Flickr Find: Use Webclips to create a personal Photo album

TUAW reader DoctaBu has come up with a novel way to use Webclips: creating a personal photo album. He realized he could have some fun with webclips by building an entire page of nothing but his friends' and family's pictures. He placed these all on a separate SpringBoard screen, which he can flick over to whenever he wants. Have you done something extraordinary or unique with Webclips? Let us know!

iPhone Missing E-Mail function.. bait and switch

Ryan Block from Engadget shot us an e-mail about a blog post that he recently wrote on his personal blog. In his post, he reminisces about Macworld '07 where Steve Jobs first showed off the iPhone's e-mail application. He reminds us about the double-pane e-mail that was demoed -- and never made it into the final release. What gives Steve? Some people actually would like this view to quickly look through their e-mail.

Many have said that the iPhone's e-mail client isn't the best feature out there, as it lacks smart folders, multiple message deletion, and the double-pane view. Not to mention the fact that there are multiple bugs that still remain, even with firmware version 1.1.3 (Ryan mentions the fact that the iPhone idles while parsing HTML messages for quite some time). Is iPhone's Mail worth your time, or a pain in the finger?

iPhone Tricks of the trade

Here are two simple but useful tips from TUAW readers David B Alford and Andrew Akker that help you navigate through your iPhone or iPod home screens. David points out that if you tap just to the left or to the right of the dots at the bottom of your screen, you can move a page at a time without having to drag. Tap left, you move left. Tap right, you move right. It's quick and it's easy.


Andrew figured out how to pause his drag Home screen drags. If you start to move between screens by dragging and then tap the dots control during that drag, screen pauses. You'll see bits of both home screens at once, and can interact with them normally by tapping icons. You can see up to 24 icons at once (16 off to one side, 4 along the other side, and 4 in the bar at the bottom).

I've tested both tips extensively and they work great -- two really nice additions to one's Home-screens skills.

iPhone Rap Video ..best thing i've ever seen.

Hit me on my iphone.
The fake lips in the copy and paste demo (and the stealth declaration of love at the end) had me laughing out loud, but this one has me rolling -- who knew the iPhone demo guy was such a hip hop mastermind? Pete Miser was the one who put the song together, and apparently Merritt Duff edited the video. I especially like the dance at the end, and the lyrics are perfect. I've never bought a Bluetooth headset because I think they just plain look dumb, but people have thought I was crazy on the bus as I talked directly into the little mic on the headphones.

I love it. John from the MacBook Air demos should do a dis song, and we have a mobile computing rap feud!

iphone like e-mail on the Blackberry

At last, e-mail handling on your BlackBerry is coming into the 21st century. Also: Office document editing and new IM features.

One of my biggest pet peeves about BlackBerry phones is that for all their vaunted abilities to send and receive e-mail in a flash, the messages themselves arrive in a blocky, unformatted jumble—and good luck clicking on URLs. All that's set to change, though, with the latest update to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server platform (due to arrive by the end of next month).

Among the improvements in BES version 4.5: HTML and Rich Text formatting for e-mail messages, which will finally bring the BlackBerry platform in line with Windows Mobile (which got HTML e-mail formatting in early 2007) and the iPhone. Finally, your messages and newsletters will be formatted correctly, complete with images, and the links will work. Crazy, I know. Also on tap: remote searching for e-mail messages that are on the server but not on your device, along with new IM features (including IM session "click to call," "convert to call," and emoticon support) for users of IBM Lotus Sametime and Microsoft Live Communications Server.

Built-in Office document editing is also coming to the BlackBerry, thanks to the upcoming integration of Dataviz's Documents to Go software (which has been available as a third-party download since last year). First up will be the ability to edit Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents, with support for Excel coming later this year. Several other IT, security, and server-side enhancements will also be included in the update (check out RIM's press release for the entire list).

Personally, I'm pretty excited about the update; the lack of HTML-formatted e-mail has been one fo the main reasons I resisted getting a BlackBerry. Now, who knows—there just might be a Curve in my future.

Pirated Movies Used to Promote the iMac

The DVD ripper aXXo is without a doubt one of the most popular DVD-rippers. Even though he hasn’t been active since November 2007, his rips are still widely used, even by commercial outlets such as the John Lewis store. They must have thought, “Why use a real DVD if we can use a pirated movie for free?”

The aXXo rip was shown on an iMac displayed on an Apple stand at a John Lewis store. A member of the Hexus forums discovered this remarkable promotional material, and writes:

“So I was in my local John Lewis store a week or so back, and I was checking out their new little Apple mac area, which had lots of Macs on display, with some desks setup and other accessories. They also had some wall mounted iMacs. Imagine my surprise when getting closer to one of them to see ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ - ripped by Axxo playing.”



Using a ripped DVD is bit odd because this is certainly not the best promotional material. Regular DVDs or free HD-content looks much better on an iMac monitor.

One thing is clear though, aXXo’s presence has now moved beyond the Internet, and for him it must be flattering to see that commercial outlets appreciate his work. Perhaps this might motivate him to return?

The last official aXXo torrent was uploaded November 11, after that it has been awfully quiet. There were rumors that he got caught, others said he had an accident. However, the official statement is that he decided to take a break.

John Lewis was not available for comment, the MPAA probably wont appreciate it that much, but they have our support.

iPhone BEST Applications

Last week we showed you how to install third party apps on your iPhone or iPod touch, and since then a new firmware preview has leaked its way to the 'nets with saucy new features that—once released—may tempt you to abandon your jailbreak for the newly introduced features. Fact is, until the 1.1.3 firmware is successfully hacked by the resourceful iPhone hackers, you can still enjoy all of the features the update is bringing and more with your jailbroken iPhone. Today I'm taking a look at my 20 favorite (that's right, 20) third-party iPhone and iPod touch apps.

All of the applications below are available through Installer.app, which can be installed by jailbreaking your iPhone. For more details on each app, click through to the gallery page (again, sorry). Some of the apps will work perfectly on both the iPhone and iPod touch, while others are obviously a bit more iPhone-oriented. I've only tested these apps on the iPhone. Want to learn more about all things iPhone? Check out How to Do Everything with your iPhone, written by me and my pal Jason Chen from Gizmodo.

Apps that Cover Rumored 1.1.3 Features
In case you haven't seen it, here's a video highlighting the upcoming features in the 1.1.3 firmware release.
First let's tackle the hot apps of the moment—those apps that can already bring you the features rumored to be in the 1.1.3 update. The major new features appear to be the faux-GPS in Google Maps, multi-recipient SMS, and re-ordering apps on the home screen. Two of the apps above have been covering those features for quite some time (Navizon for GPS and Customize for re-ordering apps), and the third, iSMS for multi-recipient SMS, is a bit newer, but in addition to multi-recipient SMS, it offers quick-reply templates, emoticons, and a much more robust SMS management system. It does not currently offer MMS messaging, though there is an iPhone app (called SwirlyMMS) that is attempting the MMS road, though it's still a bit bumpy. MMS messages can be sent (though it requires a bit of setup), but so far not received.

iSMS
Navizon GPS
Customize
The only major new feature that's been discovered in the 1.1.3 update that isn't easily available through Installer is the new web clip feature that allows the user to bookmark a web page directly on the home screen. There are hacks around that accomplish this, but they're not the kind of no-brainer installations as the above three apps. The WebSearch app described below, however, is arguably a good deal more useful for what I need than the web clips, so I can happily do without for the time being.

Now that I've covered the 1.1.3 features (I'll include these apps in the sections below by category as well), lets move on to my 20 favorite iPhone apps.

Communication
Below we've got a more robust SMS client, a multi-protocol IM app, and a simple utility that adds push email capabilities to IMAP accounts—including Gmail.
iSMS
Apollo
iMapIdle
Multimedia
The multimedia list is a big one, so I'll just highlight a few. You've got a Last.fm client and scrobbler for your iPod, a feature-rich camera app, and a real-time lyrics app that automagically sucks lyrics for your music from the cloud.
Books
MobileScrobbler
iFlix
CameraPro
TuneWiki
Productivity
One of my favorites, the WebSearch app adds one-click search to any site, while Sketches is a great whiteboard tool and drawing pad.
Sketches
WebSearch
Utilities
There are obviously quite a few great iPhone utilities, so to highlight just a few: OpenSSH is what I used to tether my iPhone data plan to my laptop; DropCopy is great for sharing files between your phone or iPod and your desktop; Installer, obviously, is the app that makes all of this third-party app business so easy; Navizon does the faux-GPS for Google Maps; and Customize covers app re-ordering and just about any other customization you'd want to make to your little iPod or iPhone.
OpenSSH
iTrac
iPhoneHome
iSpit
DropCopy
Installer
Navizon GPS
Customize
Games
There are actually tons of games available on the iPhone at this point, but these three stand out as favorites because of their impressive use of the iPhone's animation engine or for just being plain addictive.
Gallery Name
NES
iSolitaire
HuaRongDao

Honorable Mention

For honorable mention purposes (I realize I already fudged a bit with 21 above), I wanted to point out FireflyMediaServer, an app that streams your iPod library to any iTunes library on a local network as a shared library (and which we showed you how to set up here). Dictionary is what it sounds like, a dictionary application that can search tons of installable dictionary databases (also available in Installer). Finally, for the students out there, iStudy is a simple flashcard app that also features downloadable content from Installer.

iPhone is a window into your personal life...understand your rights!

Adam Gershowitz, an assistant professor at the South Texas College of Law, raises an interesting point about the iPhone and similarly tricked-out mobile devices: If the police stop you and find some legal cause to arrest you, they are probably free, under judicial interpretations of the Fourth Amendment, to search the device.

This means that a standard traffic stop -- say they get you for drunk driving or excessive speeding or any number of other arrestable offenses -- could conceivably lead to a search of your entire Web history, your photos, and potentially even your online accounts at banks or social networking sites.

The iPhone is a portable window to your whole world -- and while arresting you for something comparatively minor, the police may get to look through that window without any approval from a judge.

Gershowitz's theory, which he outlines in a law review article, rests on a legal doctrine known as "search incident to arrest." Ordinarily, the police aren't allowed to search your possessions unless they obtain a warrant. That's the essence of the Fourth Amendment, the one we all grew up with on "Law and Order."

One exception to this is a search incident to arrest -- if the police are arresting you, they can search you and your possessions without first obtaining a warrant. During the past few decades, Gershowitz explains, courts have given the police wide rein in conducting such searches. If police arrest a driver, they're allowed to search not only the driver but the car, passengers in the car, and "containers" in the car -- envelopes, wallets, aspirin bottles -- that they find. And incriminating evidence they find -- even if it's not related to the crime they're arresting you for -- can be admissible in court.

In recent years courts have been asked to rule on the legality of police searches of electronic devices found during the course of an arrest, and judges have almost always come down on the side of the officers.

Police have been allowed to search through pagers and cellphones for contacts and messages, and evidence found on those devices -- text messages that prove that the arrestee was involved in a drug ring, for instance -- were ruled admissible in court.

Newer mobile devices like the iPhone are qualitatively different from pagers and cellphones of yesteryear: They hold much more personal information about their owners, and they're connected to the Internet, which holds still more personal information. When the cops find an iPhone, then, they're sitting on a gold mine of personal data.

Gershowitz notes this theoretical case: Say an officer finds an iPhone on a fellow during an arrest. The cop then brings up the iPhone's Web browser, scans the bookmarks, clicks on one called "porn," which takes him to a Web page that requires a member's username and password, which the iPhone has fortunately remembered -- so the cop presses "submit," and he sees that the Web site has a message function, which the cop then logs in to, and finds, there, an incriminating conversation about the exchange of child porn.

Or something else hypothetically damning -- messages about buying drugs, or buying bongs, or, in Alabama and Texas, buying dildos. Or, say the cop logs into your bank account and finds evidence of financial fraud. Or he looks at your pictures, videos and songs and finds evidence of mass copyright infringement.

All that information would have been private and inaccessible to the government in the days before the iPhone. Now, though, it can conceivably be used against you in court.

Gershowitz goes over possible remedies to this problem. One is for courts to follow the prescription of Justice Antonin Scalia, who favors reducing the scope of the search incident to arrest doctrine. In Scalia's view, only searches that are related to the cause of the arrests should be legal -- if the cops arrest you for not wearing a seat belt, they can't search for drugs, because that's not related to your crime.

Another remedy is for legislatures to limit the scope of police searches of electronic devices. States could specifically prohibit cops from looking at your online profiles on your iPhone, say, if they're only stopping you for driving under the influence.

That's not likely to happen soon -- or at all, unless there are cases in the courts that prove Gershowitz's theory true. As yet, his idea is hypothetical. Still, perhaps it'd be wise to keep a password lock on your iPhone. The cops can't get through that without a warrant.

Hat tip to Techdirt's Mike Masnick for this; read Gershowitz's paper here.

iPhone Voice Dial

Makayama has released a new native iPhone application called VoiceDial. As you can probably guess from its name, the application adds voice dialing feature to the iPhone, but also allows users to start applications and open Safari bookmarks without touching their shiny handset — all they have to do is say it and Makayama’s app will take it from there.
The interesting thing about VoiceDial is that it isn’t free. So far virtually all applications we’ve seen — except Navizon — have been developed by iPhone enthusiasts and were offered as a free download. Entrance of the established developer like Makayama to the space is certainly encouraging to the iPhone users, even though they’ll have to pay $27.95 or 19.95 EUR in order to download VoiceDial… More information is available from here.

iPhone Proof of Concept projects on fire!

The beauty of jailbroken iPhones is the ability for developers to demonstrate the amazing potential of native iPhone apps, inducing the salivation of mouths throughout the techie world. And indeed, some incredible examples of mobile possibilities have already hit the interwebs, like the neat-o PlayStation emulator I wrote about before.
And they keep on coming: Erica Sadun, one of the most prominent names in iPhone cracking, put together Listen, an insanely sweet app that lets you identify songs playing on the radio by putting your iPhone up to the speaker. It listens to the tune for ten or so seconds, then displays its name, album, and artist info. A friend of mine tested it and said it worked “really well,” ID’ing a song from Dropkick Murphys’ album, The Meanest of Times, which has only been out since September.
If this isn’t evidence enough that 3rd-party apps for the iPhone could effectively be its most attractive feature, I don’t know what is. Here’s hoping Apple isn’t characteristically stingy with who gets access to the SDK — some of the most innovative stuff comes from the independent, little-guy dev who whips up code in his free time, just for the hell of it.

iPhone American iDol

We’re more than happy to flick the switch on the 100W bulb and explain how to add lyrics to your iPhone.

Here’s the first trick: while the latest version of the iPhone software does add support for lyrics, those lyrics are pulled directly from the song files’ metadata. If you hop into your iTunes library and select a track, you can hit command-I or control-click and choose “Get Info.” You’ll see a number of tabs, but the only we’re interested at the moment is “Lyrics.” Hitting that will give you a big empty text field. Whatever you put in this field is what will show up on the iPhone, so you’re not required to put the lyrics in—really it could be anything you want:notes, recipes, marriage proposals, whatever. But right now, we’ll assume you want to use lyrics.

To find the lyrics for a song, I recommend a simple Google search: entering the title of the song and lyrics usually yields a number of results. So, for example, if I’m looking for the lyrics to The Rolling Stones classic “Gimmer Shelter,” to which I’ve become addicted, thanks to Rock Band, I’ll fire up a Google search and enter “Gimme Shelter +lyrics” (Lyric Wiki is an excellent collaborative site for lyrics). Once you’ve found the words, copy and paste them into the Lyrics dialog box in the appropriate song in iTunes. You’ll then need to re-sync your computer and your iPhone. Couldn’t be easier.

Well, it could be easier. I mean, who wants to spend all their time finding, copying, and pasting lyrics into iTunes. Pretty much nobody. So instead, check out Gimme Some Tune, an iTunes add-on that can be configured to download lyrics for songs as they play. Combined with Doug Adam’s Needle Drop iTunes script, which lets you play songs for arbitrary amounts of time, you can set it up to automatically retrieve lyrics for all of your songs. That’s pretty darn easy.

But how—I’m sure you’re wondering—do I get such lyrics to show up on the iPhone? Easy enough: when the song comes up, tap on the album art. Usually this brings up additional music controls, but if lyrics are present, it’ll overlay them on the album art. You can even scroll through them with a simple flick, if you’re trying to sing along. We also remind you that singing along to your tunes is an activity usually best left for the privacy of your own.

iPhone Hidden items in firmware update 1.1.3

Last week’s 1.1.3 software update to the iPhone brought a bunch of new features, which we painstakingly detailed over at the Mothership with a careful detail usually reserved for Talmudic study. But even under the magnifying lens of our scrutiny, one or two minor changes escaped our notice. Fortunately, the folks over at iPhone Atlas were sharp enough to pick up on them.

The limit on stored SMS messages has been raised from 1,000 to an ice-cream-headache-inducing 75,000. That’s right: now you can store every SMS message that you send in your entire lifetime—unless you are a teenage girl, in which case you’ll still need to erase all of your conversations every month.

And now you can use two fingers while typing, too. “Huh?” you say. “Couldn’t you already do that?” Well, yes, but now you can use two fingers simultaneously. Previously, tapping any key meant that the rest of the keyboard was rendered inoperable, which helped eliminating extraneous contact from your other hand. That apparently wasn’t as big a deal as Apple initially thought, so now you can use your left thumb to hold down the shift key while typing a letter: you’ll get a capital and the keyboard will immediately snap back into lower case mode. Handy for those used to, oh, almost every other keyboard ever made.

A final addendum on 1.1.3. Macworld head honcho Jason Snell was trying out 1.1.3’s new “Manually manage your music and video” feature; he gives it a thumbs down. While it does let you drag-and-drop music and video files onto your iPhone, the major advantage that the feature brought tot he iPod—letting you transfer music and video from multiple computers to one iPod—has been locked down on the iPhone. Try to manually manage an iPhone on a second computer and it’ll work—after iTunes offers to erase any files currently on the iPhone. So those hoping to sync with multiple computers are still forced to engage in interpretive dance and ritual sacrifice.